FG Issues Specific Guidelines, Deadline for School Reopening

The Federal Ministry of Education has given school owners up to 29th of July, 2020 to meet specific guidelines for the reopening of schools.

This was disclosed in a statement signed by the Director of Information, Ben Bem Goong.

Goong stated that the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, had consulted with the Ministry of Health and Nigerian Centre for Disease Control.

He added that Education in Emergencies Working Group developed and circulated guidelines for the reopening of school after the consultations.

According to the Minister, school owners are to prepare to comply with the guidelines.

Nwajuiba said that schools are expected to undertake self-assessment and send feedback to state ministries of education, not later than 29th of July 2020.

“Thereafter, consultations with relevant stakeholders will be held to review the situation and decide on a specific date for reopening or otherwise,” he said.

According to the statement, the ministry also met with stakeholders including West African Examination Council (WAEC) on Monday and agreed to further consult with four other countries on a new examination date.

The ministry insisted that schools must address learners and educators basic physical safety needs.

It therefore recommended certain actions to safeguard the health, safety and security of learners.

Part of the recommended actions are conduct of online training to prepare teachers to teach in a way that safeguards the health, safety, and security of the learners; provision of access to online resources materials; training on how to maintain personal hygiene and adhere to the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, and World Health Organisation, Covid-19 guidelines.

“Before schools and learning facilities reopen, Federal and State Ministries of Education will decide when to reopen schools after due consultations with the Presidential Taskforce on COVID-19 (PTF) and other critical stakeholders taking into consideration key requirements listed in the guidelines,” the statement reads.

“In each state, a functional School Health programme chaired by a state school health focus officer should be put in place while a school focal officer should be assigned in every school,” it adds.

“Schools must also put in place systems that meet the safe distancing procedures,” the statement concludes.